Things to Do in Vancouver – Taster Tray at Steel & Oak Brewing

So I finally had a chance to head down to another brewery that has recently opened in Greater Vancouver (actually New Westminster to be exact) which, based on all the feedback so far is totally worth the trek out there. I understand they have been making beer for a bit, but only recently opened up a tasting room in a smaller out of they way building near the Fraser River. Anyway, despite it being a hot evening I decided to go for a bit of a walk after work from the New West Skytrain Station all of the way to Steel & Oak Brewing at 1319 Third Avenue.

Now to get here from the Skytrain there are two main routes: one which is a 1.3km walk (each way) along one of the more precarious parts of Sterwardson Way; the other safer and more scenic route is a 2.1 km walk along the waterfront BC parkway path. I suggest the scenic route because it is waterfront and looks like this picture (below) the entire way which is awesome in the summer:

Once you are there, you’ll notice that it is a small (but not Bridge Brewing small) taster room with a bar, a few tables and thankfully a few oscillating fans but not much else. It is a place of beer and only beer which is quite good in my books. They had 4 beers on tap and the Red Pilsner and the Pale Ale were my favourites. Now, I make a smoked wheat beer at home with the similar type of beechwood smoked and I still selfishly prefer my own over theirs, especially the chestnut one I make, however the ESB and Smoked Hefeweizen were very good too and I can safely say that this place makes good beer no question. This was my $6 sampler of beer listed in the following left to right order: Royal City Pale Ale, Red Pilsner, Smoked Hefeweizen, Dry Hopped ESB.

First visit – high anticipation based on social media feedback:

This is a great little place and I expect that we will be seeing lots of great stuff from them. It’s worth going and filling your growlers here, stopping by for a sampler or the the odd glass of beer whenever you can. The staff is friendly, happy to chat about their beer at the bar and most importantly they know what they are doing in the brewery itself! A growler of their Royal City Pale Ale came home with me for later enjoyment and I had an extra serving of their Red Pilsner before heading out which was also great. I also really like that they launched with some different beers than everyone else, not crazy different, but different enough to be interesting.

Second visit – three new beers to try:

From left to right you have the Royal City Pale Ale, Dark Lager, Smoked Lager, Lemonade Radler. All of these are beers I would recommend to anyone and honestly their Radler, which I believe is the Pale Ale mixed with Lemonade really gives Parallel 49’s Tricycle a run for it’s money as a beer cocktail. Honestly the lemonade alone is pretty awesome, add some beer and it really shines. Anytime you are in town, be sure to drop by and spend $6 on a taster tray, you won’t regret it and will likely bring a growler of something home with you after.